Things are hot at the Marble City Market, and no oven is to blame.
Paysan Sandwich Shop with Fantail Fish & amp; Frites will leave Knoxville’s first food hall at the end of the month. Matt Gallaher, who owns both concepts, cited Failure Hospitality HQ providing the equipment he promised, as well as the management company’s “white-knockle control” over merchants.
This lift will mark the fourth and fifth vendors of the 11 original concepts that leave the city dining hall since opening in November 2021 on West Depot Avenue.
While Gallaher told Knox News he promised a special oven for Paysan that he never received, Recreation HQ co-founder Michael Wetherbee told Knox News all equipment sellers agree to the list of equipment provided in their contracts.
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As for the fish-and-chips concept, Gallaher said, the minimum requirements: a fryer, multiple burners and a freezer to store fish. However, Gallaher told Knox News that the business was still not provided with a freezer and had relied on freezer space provided by neighboring L&O BBQ vendors, which no longer exist with the Marble City Market.
Wetherbee stated that the dining hall has a community freezer.
“Everyone in the dining hall has worked together, even if there are problems,” Gallaher said of the merchants. “Anyone who comes next, I hope it works for them.”
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The food hall is ‘just not busy enough’
L&O BBQ left in food hall demand after health violations, Wetherbee said. See the article : ‘Fonio grows naturally’: could ancient indigenous crops guarantee food security for Africa?. It happened around the same time The Corners Pizza left the food hall, and both began with Po ’Richard’s departure.
The owner of Po ’Richard’s previously spoke with Knox News and said dwindling foot traffic along the food hall was the main reason for leaving. Gallaher noticed a similar trend but expects foot traffic will improve during hot weather.
“It’s just awkward communication, a really cumbersome management structure,” Gallaher said. “It’s just not busy enough for us to justify continuing to stay open. & Amp; mldr; I just don’t see the next nine months as different.” Vendor signed an 18 -month lease.
To revive business earlier in the week, Marble City Market is offering a 20% discount on lunch and dinner orders on Mondays and Tuesdays when customers use Apple Pay.
The rest of the original merchants are Myrtle’s Bakehouse, Seoul Brothers, Gekko Poke & amp; Ramen, Penne for Your Mind, Smash City and Donut Theory. The donut shop is now under new ownership.
The ownership group Regas Property, which has a building and a contract with Hospitality HQ to manage the food hall, has not met with Knox News to discuss vendor turnover, despite several attempts to interview.
‘I don’t think they care about Knoxville’
Gallaher is not the first seller indicating a lack of communication from Hospitality HQ. To see also : Expiration dates on food: Is it still good? What do they mean?.
Even Dustin Cochran, who has become one of the most successful Marble City Market equipment sellers, told Knox News in April that “there are multiple opportunities for the overall management of the venue to improve.” Cochran owns Myrtle’s Bakehouse and bought The Donut Theory from the original owner.
Wetherbee told Knox News on Friday that management has heeded this criticism and has expanded its weekly email communications by adding monthly town hall meetings for merchants. Wetherbee noted that Hospitality HQ leaders flew from New York to attend this meeting, although Gallaher believes that the out -of -town perspective is an error in the structure of the dining hall.
“I don’t know if Michael or anyone from HHQ cares about Knoxville,” he said. “They might care about the four walls inside the City Marble Market. & Amp; Mldr; They’ve got something in Omaha. They’ve got food halls all over. I don’t think they care about Knoxville, and I do.”
Management: No cause for concern
While Wetherbee said food halls typically have a waiting list around three vendors, Recreation HQ has decided to bring in its own award-winning taqueria concept to fill a void left by departing vendors. Read also : Food Truck Friday returns to Duluth. They were also brought to the Indian street trader KatiRoll Wala.
When asked why HQ Hospitality chose to bring its own concept instead of choosing a prospective vendor, Wetherbee told Knox News that “it states that we not only manage (Marble City Market) but operate on the same playing field as everyone else.”
Every time a vendor goes, Wetherbee guarantees Knox News no one is concerned. The food hall is an incubator, after all, and the low start-up cost allows the chef-driven concept to test the water without building an expensive brick-and-mortar space.
But Gallaher said experimentation was never his intention; “We just want to offer something slightly different.” He believes Hospitality HQ has eliminated the ball and can do more to help merchants find success.
“It’s an uphill battle,” Gallaher said. “All that we do is we fight against (management) rather than assisted. … I think they are naive in thinking (of them). Not just, ‘If you build that, they will come to the dining hall.’ It’s an environment that needs a little promotion again. “
Vendors and their ability to be ‘nimble’
Gallaher says he can do more internally to promote his dining hall business, citing the social media presence of chef Paul Moody, who has been successful with his Smash City concept and opened the Fresh Valley Kitchen in the dining hall this week.
Gallaher said that he would like to extend, alone, by adding brunch but can never accept anyone who has management to sign on to the idea. Vendors even have to check with management to add items to their point-of-sale system, it becomes difficult to change menus.
“We got a successful business because we were agile,” Gallaher said. “Why would they never give us support in that nature?”
Wetherbee stated that oversight was needed so that the online menu reflected what the merchants were offering and so that some merchants did not have the same items on its menu. But Gallaher says Paysan plans to offer the boys from the beginning, only to know briefly before opening that Po ’Richard’s has a menu all based on this sandwich.
Up next for Gallaher and the food hall
For now, after closing the latest Knox Mason at the city’s Embassy Suites, Gallaher is focusing on Emilia, its Italian restaurant in Market Square.
The Paysan brand will live on. Gallaher’s business partner in the venture, Blake Sallie, will continue to operate Paysan Bread & amp; Bagels at 804 Tyson St. as soon as the sandwich shop closes.
Gallaher said that he is still not sure whether Paysan Sandwich Shop or Fantail Fish & amp; Frites can go in several other forms. The dining hall has four potential traders on deck to fill its place at the Marble City Market, according to Wetherbee.
A second dining hall with separate ownership plans to open south of town at the former Kern Bakery site on Chapman Highway. Construction is underway, with plans launched in June 2023.
